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Community Health Impacts of Airports A brief review of the relevant research to-date. Presented by Kim Serry (she/her), MPHc 2020, University of Washington In partnership with Kris Johnson at Public Health Seattle King County and Molly Firth and Aaron Katz at the UW Center for Health Innovation and Policy Science
Today’s agenda: - What are the pollutants we are concerned about near airports? - What are the effects on health? - Which communities are most impacted? - What do we know locally? - Summary - Time for discussion and questions.
Pollution from Airports ~ 3,000 ft Sulfur Oxides (SO x ) PM 2.5 Oxides of Nitrogen (NO x ) + Hazardous Air Pollutants ( HAPs ) Ozone Carbon Monoxide (CO) Coarse (PM 10 ), Fine ( PM 2.5 ), & Ultrafine Particulate Matter ( UFP ) Lead (Pb*) Noise
Health Impacts - Rating the Evidence
How does air pollution impact health? Short-term Long-term PM 2.5 , UFP Cognitive decline, dementia PM 2.5 , Ozone , NO x , SO x HAPs More respiratory infections, Nose and throat cancers, leukemia worsened respiratory conditions (such as asthma), PM 2.5 , Ozone , NO x respiratory-related death Asthma development, respiratory diseases, respiratory-related death PM 2.5 , CO PM 2.5 Changes in heart rate, Hypertension, heart disease, worsened heart disease, heart blood clots, stroke, heart attack, attack, heart-related death heart-related death PM 2.5 Lung cancer, lung cancer death Ozone Ozone Increased blood sugar, Insulin resistance, metabolic increased insulin syndrome, type II diabetes, metabolic-related death
How does noise pollution impact health? Disrupted sleep Poorer school performance (especially reading comprehension Chronic annoyance and memory) Increased blood pressure, Chronic stress hypertension, heart disease, heart attack, stroke, heart-related death
Scale of Health Impacts ~26 deaths/100,000 ppl in 2017, US ~2 deaths/100,000 ppl in 2017, EU Airports: 100+ deaths/yr, 2005, US Airports: ? deaths/yr, US heart attack, stroke, asthma heart attack, stroke attacks, poor lung function worsened heart disease and asthma, worsened heart disease more respiratory infections heart disease, asthma, COPD, hypertension, heart disease lung cancer, diabetes difficulty breathing, high blood high blood pressure, poor pressure, insulin resistance school performance irritation and inflammation, stress, sleep and activity varied heart rate disruption, annoyance
Which populations are most impacted? ● Children, older adults, and people with underlying disease are more likely to experience worse health effects from air and noise pollution. ● People of Color and people of lower socioeconomic status are exposed to higher levels of air pollution and noise pollution. Nationally, Black and Hispanic/Latinx populations are exposed to ● much more PM 2.5 than they produce, while non-Hispanic White populations contribute much more PM 2.5 emissions than they are exposed to.
Local Airport-Related Exposures Noise: Flights: Redmond Redmond Modelled Aviation 2018 annual Noise - (LAeq, dB) flight counts below 750m Bellevue Bellevue Seattle Seattle ~ WHO altitude guideline - 1 - 1,300 - 7,500 ~ FAA - 20,000 Renton guideline Renton - 39,000 - 72,000 - 138,000 - 229,000 Kent Kent
Which communities are most impacted locally? A handful of studies between 2007 and 2010 found higher burden of air pollution from road traffic among lower income neighborhoods and communities of color in the Seattle-metro area. Preliminary analysis of 2018 census tract data: ● Black, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, Hispanic/Latinx, and American Indian and Alaska Native populations are disproportionately exposed to higher levels of noise pollution and overhead flights than the King County population as a whole. ● Non-Hispanic White populations are much less exposed than the county averages for both noise pollution and overhead flights.
What do we know about these pollutants locally? ● How much pollutants spread and impact communities around airports varies based on geography, climate, weather, land use near the airport, and airport operations. ● Sea-Tac Airport sits at relatively high elevation compared to surrounding areas, so pollutants can usually disperse instead of getting trapped and accumulating. ● Both Sea-Tac and Boeing Field are near several major roadways, each other, and a busy port - these are a lot of sources of air and noise pollution in close proximity.
What we know from local studies ● Beacon Hill Noise Study: Noise levels were monitored at 52 locations in Beacon Hill, over half of the ○ sites had average noise levels above FAA standards (2018). Some sites average noise level were more than double the FAA standard for ○ maximum average noise level. ● MOV-UP Study: Measured UFP around Sea-Tac airport and distinguished between ○ aircraft-emitted UFP and road vehicle UFP. Found high concentrations of UFP underneath and downwind of landing ○ aircrafts. Also roadway UFP was higher concentrated but dissipated over shorter ○ distances, while aircraft UFP was less concentrated but persisted over longer distances, potentially affecting more people.
What we know from local studies ● Aircraft emissions during takeoff and landing were less than 1% of all PM 2.5 emissions from transportation sources in the Seattle-Tacoma region (2005 data). Around 2% of all deaths in King and Pierce counties were due to ○ mobile PM 2.5 emissions over the same time period. ● Estimated 0.7 deaths annually (or 2 deaths every 3 years) due to Sea-Tac aircraft emissions and 0.1 deaths annually (or 1 every 10 years) related to Boeing Field aircraft emissions (2005 data). Note, these estimates are from data that is 15 years old.
Key Takeaways Pollutants: Health Effects: Local Exposures: Inequity:
Knowledge Gaps Broadly: - Much is still unknown about the health impacts of ultrafine particulate matter. Locally: - We don’t have measurements of PM 2.5 and HAPs in areas closest to Sea-Tac Airport so we don’t know how exposed communities may be. - Need for an updated evaluation of local health effects. - Clearer identification of communities that are disproportionately burdened. All of this will help inform effective interventions
Thank you! What questions/comments do you have?
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